


Jumping Frog Creek Bridge

by Mierke



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 04:44:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17780795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mierke/pseuds/Mierke
Summary: Magnolia and Rose could be soulmates. But surely, that's just a story. Right?





	Jumping Frog Creek Bridge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [burglebezzlement](https://archiveofourown.org/users/burglebezzlement/gifts).



> You wanted a weird soulmate trope, and well, Bluebell would have a myth like this.

It was a warm day, and Magnolia and Rose passed each other near Jumping Frog Creek Bridge. They smiled at each other and said hello - they were well-raised Southern girls, after all - and went on their way.

And truly, that should have been the end of it. But then, a frog came leaping out of the creek, settling first on Magnolia’s head, and, before she could react, making the jump to Rose’s.

The girls looked at each other and as one decided that nope, this was not happening. They turned around, each going back to where they came from, as if actually crossing the bridge would somehow solidify what the frogs had signified.

Unfortunately for them, crossing the bridge had never been part of the deal.

* * *

"Lemon?"

Magnolia had immediately gone to her sister's place, whom she found working on some needlepoint project.

"Hmm?" Lemon didn't seem all that invested, but truly, that was all the better. If she was only half listening, chances were she wouldn't hear what Magnolia was not saying.

"The jumping frog myth, that's not a thing, right?"

"Oh, it is most definitely a thing." Lemon looked up at her sister. "I remember when Lavon and I passed that creek way back in 2011. Of course, there wasn't a bridge back then to cross, but the frogs were still there. Oh, how I hated those stupid animals. They never leapt for me and George, you know, no matter how often I lured him there."

She looked back at her needlework.

"Me and Lavon, we tried to fight it. I was so sure it was just a coincidence, that it didn't mean anything. It had to be, right? We laughed it off, refusing to talk about it, and then, of course, George came back to town and I decided to pick things back up just how we left it."

She seemed to shake off her thoughts, and Magnolia could almost see her brain start spinning.

"Why do you ask? Did you bring a boy to the bridge? Did the frogs leap?" She bent forward, putting a hand on Magnolia's. "Please, tell me everything."

Magnolia shook her head and took back her hand.

"No! I didn't bring some boy to the creek." There, Magnolia had learnt from the best how to use the truth as a weapon. Why lie when you can have people draw their own conclusions? "I just wanted to know if there was any truth to it, that's all."

She got up, desperate to leave this place now. She had come looking for reassurance, wanting to be convinced that this was just a ridiculous story that people told themselves, but it was crazy that the frogs wouldn't leap for the golden couple. Lemon had no reason to make that up, and Magnolia could only imagine how devastated she would have been.

"Magnolia?"

Magnolia turned around, a hand on the doorknob. "Yes?"

"When they do leap, please don't ignore their call. The frogs are never wrong."

That wasn't ominous at all, Magnolia thought, as she all but fled her sister's place.

* * *

"I'm just saying, there's no scientific value to any of this, right?"

Rose sat on Zoe's desk, as Zoe finished up some paperwork.

"Of course not," Zoe said. "Frogs do not have some sort of sixth sense, nor can they predict the future. I don't even know if there is such a thing as soulmates."

"Right? Thank you!"

Rose heaved a sigh of relief. It didn't have to mean anything. She could just go on ignoring Magnolia and things would go back to the way they were.

"So the frogs never leapt for you?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, they did." Zoe filed her papers away. "I firmly believe it's a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Because the frogs jump and make you believe what you have is true love, you're more willing to put in the work, because you feel like the result is a given. Which is why, no matter how much Lemon pushed me, I refused to go there with Wade until after our marriage. And lo and behold, the frogs jumped."

She looked up at Rose, her eyes serious.

"Don't let anyone talk you into something you don't want. Not even frogs, okay?"

Rose nodded, her thoughts repeating the phrase over and over again. _Something you don't want._ That was just it, she thought. She wasn't sure what she wanted. Would she be so desperate to prove the frogs wrong if there hadn't been a part of her that wanted them to be right?

* * *

Their feet brought them back to the Jumping Frog Creek. Zoe would say it was a coincidence; Lemon would say it was fate. Rose and Magnolia, however, didn't put much stock in either as they wearily looked at each other.

"I'm not sure I want to be gay in this town." Magnolia was the first to speak, and Rose heard all the things she wasn't saying. _It isn't about you. I'm scared. Please let the frogs be wrong._

"Cricket did it, and she's a Belle."

The frogs croaked as if trying to hurry them up, but it seemed like their feet were stuck to the path. They wouldn't look at each other, and the distance between them felt like miles.

"Lemon would never look at me the same way."

Rose wanted to reach out and comfort Magnolia, but knew she didn't have the right to do so. Not yet.

"Wouldn't she, though?" Rose thought of what she knew about Lemon. "I know she's not the easiest person to please, but would she really mind? Honestly, I just always thought she wanted you to be happy."

"She does." Magnolia played with a thread that got loose on her dress. "She urged me to never ignore the frogs. She did, and all it did was make her miserable."

That advice hung between them in the air, almost a tangible force pulling them closer. Rose took a tentative step forward. Magnolia didn't retreat, which she took as a good sign.

"Zoe said..." Rose licked her lips, not wanting to repeat exactly what Zoe had said, knowing Magnolia would take it the wrong way. "Zoe said to follow my heart."

"Well, that's stupid advice."

"I think it's sound advice," she said, taking another step forward. It was now just the width of the bridge between them; two more steps and she would be able to reach out and touch Magnolia. She hoped her actions could convey what her words were too scared to say. _I want you._

"It's not fair," Magnolia said. "You have nothing to lose."

"True." Rose took another step forward, and she could now count the brown specks in Magnolia's green eyes. "But we both have so much to gain."

"I want what Lemon has. I do." Magnolia closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Slowly but surely, she raised her right foot, and closed the distance between them. "I never thought it would be you."

"That makes two of us," Rose whispered, as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind Magnolia's ear. "But here we are."

Rose grabbed Magnolia's hand.

"I don't want you to do anything you don't want to. And I know we have so much to talk about and discover about each other and this might be the stupidest thing we'll ever do." She smiled as Magnolia nodded empathically. They were both so sure this was ridiculous, yet both so certain this was it. "I know all of that. But can you please kiss me now?"

A beat. Magnolia didn't move, and Rose held her breath, waiting for whatever it was that came next. It would be okay, she assured herself, whatever it was, it would be-

And then Magnolia was kissing her, and all thought just disappeared.


End file.
